Happy Birthday to me!
I told the boys all I wanted was a day of no bickering or whining, and... I think I got it! Of course, it may have helped that the boys were gone for most of the morning, and I was gone for most of the afternoon. :-)
Still, they did good. Brought me home an apple fritter from Crown Donuts this morning, got the house cleaned, outside mowed and watered and swept, and then took me out to eat at Cheesecake Factory.
In the afternoon I got to spend a couple of hours at Target wandering around the store (one of my favorite things to do with no kids, even if there wasn't anything cute on the clearance racks), and then I went with Brigham to a violin shop to look at violins. We spent almost 2 hours playing instrument after instrument, and finally settled on one that we both love. It has a very unique looks, and a wonderful sound. I think I might even be a little envious!
I had lots and lots of happy birthdays on Facebook (I'm never exactly sure what is the proper protocol-- do I respond and say thank you to everyone? I hope not, but I did read every one of them), several phone calls from various sisters and brothers and parents, and a couple of emails and blog posts that made me cry (in a good way), and so I felt very loved.
It is good to be me on this August 31, 2013!
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Friday, August 30, 2013
08/30/2013
One week down, 35 to go. :-)
It was an OK first week of school. There is room for improvement, but it was a good start.
Joseph and Brigham got braces on Wednesday! Oh, were they ever excited. I took pictures of them just before leaving for the orthodontist-- their last braces-free smile for who know how long.
Of course neither boy likes to smile with his mouth open, so I'm not sure the difference will be that noticeable. :-) Poor boys! The first couple of days with braces was not so fun. And probably won't be much fun until they are off. Here's to hoping that will be very soon!
The first week of seminary was something of a mixed bag. I think I have a better idea of how to put together a lesson, but dang, 5:40 AM is *early.* The first day (Tuesday) was pretty good. Lots of kids came, everyone was alert, I think my lesson was pretty good. Wednesday and Thursday saw progressively fewer students, although not too bad, but the level of alertness decreased dramatically each day. 5:40 AM is *so* early. And these kids are not getting enough sleep. On Thursday I asked how many kids got to bed before midnight, and only about half of them had, which meant the other half was working off of 5 1/2 hours of sleep, or less. And it's only the first week of school. Of course, I really wasn't doing much better myself, sleep wise, so I'm not one to talk. But I wasn't falling asleep in class, either. :-)
I have a 7:00 class, too, for a pair of brothers who don't have any before-school activities. Shockingly, this class has been far more effective! I have had a "practice" lesson, there is actual daylight outside, and the boys are awake and participatory. I'm really looking forward to when we're meeting at 7:00 permanently. :-)
I'm not sure what my boys thought of our first week of school. I need to ask them. I do know that the amount of bickering and picking on each other has not yet started to taper off from the summer... Man, oh, man. My mother-in-law has a pillow that says, "Motherhood is like being pecked to death by a duck." I always thought that was a strange saying, but I get it now. Every little snide remark and passive aggressive jab pecks away at my sanity.
Here are some of the awesome picks and pecks that my boys are so good at:
Clicking pens, tapping feet, flipping papers back and forth, breathing loudly, anything to make annoying rhythmic sounds.
Putting various body parts just close enough to a brother to bug him, but just far enough away to claim he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Going into diva-worthy dramatic hysterics during practicing over the audacity of their mother to ask them to play a difficult section more than one time.
Suddenly having no idea where the book is they have just been reading when a brother comes and asks for it.
"Accidentally" dropping things on the floor, over and over again.
Bickering and arguing among each other over the most inane things in the entire world.
And so on, and so on, ad infinitum. :-)
Oh, it is sometimes so fun to be a mother.
On the other hand, we have had some good times this week, too. We are doing logic this year, and it's been fun even with just the first few lessons to be able to joke around with each other about flaws in arguments. The boys are going to be getting computers and so they've been doing lots of research into various computers, and it's been fun to listen to them talking and debating over all the intricacies of processors and RAM and gigahertz and all the other jargon of computer-buying. The boys have also been getting up for my 7:00 seminary class, and that is pretty fun, too. At least I think so. :-)
Well, tomorrow is my birthday. I think I'm going to stop counting how old I am. :-) All I want from the boys is a day of no bickering. I think I may have better luck asking for a diamond bracelet, but I guess we will see.
It was an OK first week of school. There is room for improvement, but it was a good start.
Joseph and Brigham got braces on Wednesday! Oh, were they ever excited. I took pictures of them just before leaving for the orthodontist-- their last braces-free smile for who know how long.
The first week of seminary was something of a mixed bag. I think I have a better idea of how to put together a lesson, but dang, 5:40 AM is *early.* The first day (Tuesday) was pretty good. Lots of kids came, everyone was alert, I think my lesson was pretty good. Wednesday and Thursday saw progressively fewer students, although not too bad, but the level of alertness decreased dramatically each day. 5:40 AM is *so* early. And these kids are not getting enough sleep. On Thursday I asked how many kids got to bed before midnight, and only about half of them had, which meant the other half was working off of 5 1/2 hours of sleep, or less. And it's only the first week of school. Of course, I really wasn't doing much better myself, sleep wise, so I'm not one to talk. But I wasn't falling asleep in class, either. :-)
I have a 7:00 class, too, for a pair of brothers who don't have any before-school activities. Shockingly, this class has been far more effective! I have had a "practice" lesson, there is actual daylight outside, and the boys are awake and participatory. I'm really looking forward to when we're meeting at 7:00 permanently. :-)
I'm not sure what my boys thought of our first week of school. I need to ask them. I do know that the amount of bickering and picking on each other has not yet started to taper off from the summer... Man, oh, man. My mother-in-law has a pillow that says, "Motherhood is like being pecked to death by a duck." I always thought that was a strange saying, but I get it now. Every little snide remark and passive aggressive jab pecks away at my sanity.
Here are some of the awesome picks and pecks that my boys are so good at:
Clicking pens, tapping feet, flipping papers back and forth, breathing loudly, anything to make annoying rhythmic sounds.
Putting various body parts just close enough to a brother to bug him, but just far enough away to claim he wasn't doing anything wrong.
Going into diva-worthy dramatic hysterics during practicing over the audacity of their mother to ask them to play a difficult section more than one time.
Suddenly having no idea where the book is they have just been reading when a brother comes and asks for it.
"Accidentally" dropping things on the floor, over and over again.
Bickering and arguing among each other over the most inane things in the entire world.
And so on, and so on, ad infinitum. :-)
Oh, it is sometimes so fun to be a mother.
On the other hand, we have had some good times this week, too. We are doing logic this year, and it's been fun even with just the first few lessons to be able to joke around with each other about flaws in arguments. The boys are going to be getting computers and so they've been doing lots of research into various computers, and it's been fun to listen to them talking and debating over all the intricacies of processors and RAM and gigahertz and all the other jargon of computer-buying. The boys have also been getting up for my 7:00 seminary class, and that is pretty fun, too. At least I think so. :-)
Well, tomorrow is my birthday. I think I'm going to stop counting how old I am. :-) All I want from the boys is a day of no bickering. I think I may have better luck asking for a diamond bracelet, but I guess we will see.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
1st days of school
Yesterday was our first day of school. It was kind of a mixed bag. I am doing a new curriculum this year-- well, actually going back to an old curriculum, but it is still new because essentially it is a do-it-yourself curriculum in which I purchase all the books and develop all of my own lesson plans. I think it will be great, but I have been so, so busy that I am not as prepared as I should be. I thought about waiting a week, but figured there was no harm in starting now, it's not the end of the world if all my ducks are not in a row and we end up making adjustments as we go along.
Anyway, the first half of the day yesterday went surprisingly well. The last half, not quite as stellar. A couple of meltdowns from a couple of my boys, and I was feeling discouraged.
But, today went much, much better. After a couple of heart-to-hearts with various children, it went very well.
Tuesday/Thursday will be science days, and we started off the day by breaking open a chemistry kit I bought online, assembling our alcohol burner, and unpacking some test tubes and other equipment. We then spent the next 45 minutes satiating my boys' innate pyromaniac tendencies while ostensibly doing some "science." Science reports were written, so I guess it counts. :-)
Today was also the first day of seminary. I was up way too late, of course, as I kept remembering last-minute things that I needed to do. And then I was paranoid about sleeping in, so I woke up every single hour on the hour. Oh, well. At least I did not sleep in. And I think the first day went well. It's so hard to judge my own performance. I will have two sessions-- an early class at 5:40 AM-- yes 5:40 in the morning, and a later class at 7:00. I have some good ideas for how to do things differently this year, and I hope I can pull it off.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
3 things 08/25/2013
I want to reinstate the 3 things on my blog, so here goes:
1. There is something in our attic. I have never heard it, but Ben says he has. Ben and the boys put our traps up there (Joseph has 2 humane traps he has used to trap squirrels, and, on occasion, skunks), and each day the traps remain unsprung, but the bait has gone missing. We can't find any evidence of animal droppings, which is good, but clearly there is something up there. It is freaking me out just a little bit.
2. There is a new family that has moved into our ward with a boy around Joseph's and Brigham's age. They played with him at the new member meet-and-greet this evening, and Brigham excitedly told me that he is into airsoft, too. I like this family, and I hope our boys can be friends. I know my boys are excited about the upcoming airsoft season, as soon as the temperature manages to get down below 95 degrees on any sort of consistent basis... :-)
3. Yesterday the boys and I played at the baptism of the daughter of some good friends. I was touched that Andrea asked us to do it. We played an arrangement of A Child's Prayer, with Joseph and Brigham taking the two melody lines on the flute and violin, and Mosey and I taking the treble and base accompaniment lines on violin and cello. It was a little painful getting everyone to agree to participate, then to practice individually, and especially to practice together, but we did it! Even after a last minute freak-out by one of my boys who shall remain nameless, but who plays a string instrument that is not a violin who decided he was not ready and he wasn't going to play. He changed his mind, and I think maybe we even sounded sort of good. I sure love playing music with my boys.
1. There is something in our attic. I have never heard it, but Ben says he has. Ben and the boys put our traps up there (Joseph has 2 humane traps he has used to trap squirrels, and, on occasion, skunks), and each day the traps remain unsprung, but the bait has gone missing. We can't find any evidence of animal droppings, which is good, but clearly there is something up there. It is freaking me out just a little bit.
2. There is a new family that has moved into our ward with a boy around Joseph's and Brigham's age. They played with him at the new member meet-and-greet this evening, and Brigham excitedly told me that he is into airsoft, too. I like this family, and I hope our boys can be friends. I know my boys are excited about the upcoming airsoft season, as soon as the temperature manages to get down below 95 degrees on any sort of consistent basis... :-)
3. Yesterday the boys and I played at the baptism of the daughter of some good friends. I was touched that Andrea asked us to do it. We played an arrangement of A Child's Prayer, with Joseph and Brigham taking the two melody lines on the flute and violin, and Mosey and I taking the treble and base accompaniment lines on violin and cello. It was a little painful getting everyone to agree to participate, then to practice individually, and especially to practice together, but we did it! Even after a last minute freak-out by one of my boys who shall remain nameless, but who plays a string instrument that is not a violin who decided he was not ready and he wasn't going to play. He changed his mind, and I think maybe we even sounded sort of good. I sure love playing music with my boys.
family letter 08/25/2013
Hi everyone,
First of all, congratulations Naomi and Dave on your first house! I just wrote Naomi a gushing email, but I have to say again how much I LOVE their new house. When I think back on our first house... well, let's just say that Naomi and Dave have found a gem.
This past week was our last week of summer vacation. I thought I was going to be able to really focus on school, getting my lesson's outlined and my books in order. But I thought wrong. I did get all of my books reorganized in my schoolroom, which was much needed, but somehow every single day was filled with other pressing things, and other not so pressing things but necessary things like music lessons and practicing and chores. I had a couple of seminary meetings that lasted several hours each, which were productive, but still I did not make the progress for school that I wanted to make. But, it's OK. I don't have to have all of my ducks in a row before school starts. Maybe it's better to start off a little slower anyway. After all, in most schools the first week is about getting to know the teachers, getting an introduction on what the class is going to be about, maybe doing some review.
The biggest news of the week was Brigham's and Joseph's birthday on Thursday! The night before they went to the church to be interviewed by the Bishop for their priesthood ordination on Sunday. They went with their suits and ties on, ready to answer any question the Bishop had about D&C section 84. :-) They did great. On Thursday morning, all the boys were up really, really early. Mosey was just as excited as they were. We have a little tradition of counting down until their actual birth time, when they are "officially" the next year old. It works out because they were born at 7:23 and 7:28 AM Utah time, which corresponds to 8:23 and 8:28 AM here. After that it was birthday breakfast which meant Golden Crisp for Joseph and HEB chocolate filled squares for Brigham. Brigham went for taste, and Joseph went for sheer sugar content. Seriously. He chose the cereal with the highest grams of sugar per grams of serving. Oh, well. :-) They had a pretty good day, I think. I didn't make them do any practicing at all. In the evening we had a party with some friends who came over for swimming, pizza, and the first Percy Jackson movie, to get ready for the 2nd which has just come out. It was a fun night, even if it did start positively pouring rain almost as soon as the kids got into the pool. :-) It didn't seem to deter the kids.
Yesterday we continued the celebration by going to see the 2nd Percy Jackson movie (better than the first), and going out to eat. I have to record the restaurant decision making process for posterity. I told Brigham and Joseph they needed to decide together. I threw out a bunch of suggestions, but every one that Brigham wanted, Joseph said he did not want. Brigham said he didn't mind going to Carinos (Joseph's first choice), but since Joseph hadn't shown any willingness to compromise at all, he wasn't going to agree to Carinos. Oh, man... Finally Joseph agreed that Cheesecake Factory was acceptable. As soon as he said that, Brigham said, "Ok, we can go to Carinos. I just wanted to make Joseph agree with something else!" I'm not even sure what I can say to comment on this. It isn't easy being a twin sometimes.
I think Brigham and Joseph got some good presents. They got wonderful compasses from Grandma Frandsen, a blow-dart gun from one of their friends (yes, really-- it is very cool, but dangerous. I told them the first time a dart is aimed ANYWHERE but at the archery target in our garage, the dart gun gets put away for a very long time), and cash from some other friends. Ben and I got them some camping backpacks they can use for scouts. When I asked Brigham what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted to go backpacking! Sadly, there aren't too many super awesome places to backpack around here... :-) They also got a good deal from us for buying their own school computers-- we will pay half of whatever they choose. And then Joseph got a really nice pair of star gazing binoculars with a tripod and astronomy book, and Brigham got an IOU for his own violin, which he was completely thrilled about. So, it was a *big* birthday for them-- much bigger than we usually do, but 12 years old is a big birthday, after all.
Today was a busy day! Brigham and Joseph officially graduated from primary and went up on the stand to recite their favorite articles of faith-- Brigham chose #13, and Joseph #8, which I think says a lot about their personalities right there. I had to speak in church along with the other seminary teachers in our ward, which meant I was up on the stand, so I didn't even get to sit by my boys on their last Sunday before their Sacrament duties take them away from me forever... As far as my talk went, I was told we would have 6-10 minutes each, so I woke up early this morning and prepared a talk-- a good one, I think, based around several scripture mastery verses we will be studying this year. But I was 3rd on the program, and the first speaker took a little extra time (it was really a wonderful talk, so I'm not resentful), and the 2nd speaker took a little extra time, and so by the time it was my turn, there were only a very few minutes for me and Kandis. So I was glad this wasn't a talk I had spent many hours on during the week. :-) Then during the 3rd hour, Brigham and Joseph were ordained. Ben gave a sweet blessing to each boy, and I tried not to cry as I watched them go into Priesthood for the first time. I am so proud of my boys, and it is exciting to see them growing up, but I really can't think too hard about it. How do parents stand their children growing up?? After church we went home and immediately got to work getting the house ready for our back-to-seminary meeting at 4:00. Most of our seminary students came with their parents, and I hope it was a good meeting. Seminary officially starts on Tuesday morning, bright and early at 5:40 AM!!!! I better be receiving some serious blessings, that's all I can say. :-) Finally, a half hour after that meeting ended, we all headed over to the bishop's house for a new member meet and greet, not getting home until nearly 8:00 PM. Phew! I am tired. I decided to give up on doing any more school prep for tomorrow...
So, that was our week. I still have not had time to edit any pictures from our trip, and at this point with school and seminary starting, I'm wondering if I ever will...
Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful last week of August!
Love,
Gabrielle
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
dipping my toes back in
This is the longest break I've taken from my blog since my transplant, I think! We were gone for 3 weeks, and ever since we've been back, I feel like I've been scrambling to get things organized for school and seminary, plus dealing with a trip to Houston, and an overall feeling of rebellion against the tyranny of the internet.
Anyway, it's been a great summer, although far too short. Our trip was wonderful and I have an absolutely, crazily, absurd number of photographs to go through. It's going to take me the next year to get through them all. :-)
Here's just one. Aren't we a great looking family?!
My trip to Houston was OK. It's over, that's the best part! I have to go one more time for a repeat MRI in September, and then I never, ever have to go back again. And I just might not. At least this trip was fairly quick. My mom came with me which made everything much easier and less stressful for me. I had a bunch of appointments, but my nurse was able to schedule them into just 2 days. On Monday I had an echocardiogram, then a full pulmonary function exam, then bloodwork at the fast-track lab (where they made a mistake and only drew half the number of vials, resulting in them calling me back and sticking me again for the rest...), then a check-up with Dr. Popat at the stem cell clinic, then a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (hurt much more this time than last time, but again, it's over, so all is well), and an MRI at night. Phew! The next day was easy in comparison-- bloodwork (16 vials!) and questionnaires with Dr. Hutton, then the timed walking test, hand dexterity test, and mental cognition test-- the math test which is my favorite since I can ace it, and finally a general MS physical. Dr. Hutton is such a nice man and I will miss him. But I will not miss the anxiety and stress that always surrounds visits with him. :-)
My mom and I talked seminary, went to the Houston museum of fine arts, ate Thai food, and saw a great documentary about back-up singers-- all things that wouldn't have been huge hits with my husband and 3 boys, so it was really great having her there.
Since coming back, my cousin Deborah has been staying here for a couple of weeks until she can move into her apartment down by UT where she's going to grad school. I love all of my cousins, and it has been great getting to know her. She is 10 years younger than me, so I didn't know her as well as her older siblings, but she is awesome.
I reorganized all the books in my schoolroom (a big job!), and have been trying to get things organized for school starting next week. It's complicated because I feel like now that the big boys are going into 7th grade, I need to be working according to a master plan to get them prepared for college. So I'm trying to figure out exactly how to organize our studies for the next couple of years so they can be ready for AP exams and such when they are in high school. I'm not doing Sonlight this year, since I think they need something a bit more rigorous, so it's been a lot more work for me. But I'm excited and I hope it will be a great year.
The boys have been enjoying their last few days of freedom, doing entirely too little practicing and too few chores, but you know, that's OK. My sister Rosalynde introduced me to the musical "Mathilda" while we were at our family reunion, and I got the soundtrack and we've been listening to it constantly. Mosey loves it and has lots of the words memorized, including a big chunk of one of the best monologues I've ever heard onstage. I need to video him for sure. :-) Brigham and Joseph had their last day of Primary on Sunday, since they are turning 12 on Thursday. I get too emotional if I think too much about that, so I won't. But it was fun staying up late with Brigham on Saturday night helping him master those last few articles of faith so he could pass them off before graduating from primary. I have some really good boys.
I'm going to try to get the boys up early(er) tomorrow to start adjusting to our school schedule which is coming up in less than a week now. Which means that I really need to get myself to bed earlier too.
Anyway, it's been a great summer, although far too short. Our trip was wonderful and I have an absolutely, crazily, absurd number of photographs to go through. It's going to take me the next year to get through them all. :-)
Here's just one. Aren't we a great looking family?!
My trip to Houston was OK. It's over, that's the best part! I have to go one more time for a repeat MRI in September, and then I never, ever have to go back again. And I just might not. At least this trip was fairly quick. My mom came with me which made everything much easier and less stressful for me. I had a bunch of appointments, but my nurse was able to schedule them into just 2 days. On Monday I had an echocardiogram, then a full pulmonary function exam, then bloodwork at the fast-track lab (where they made a mistake and only drew half the number of vials, resulting in them calling me back and sticking me again for the rest...), then a check-up with Dr. Popat at the stem cell clinic, then a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy (hurt much more this time than last time, but again, it's over, so all is well), and an MRI at night. Phew! The next day was easy in comparison-- bloodwork (16 vials!) and questionnaires with Dr. Hutton, then the timed walking test, hand dexterity test, and mental cognition test-- the math test which is my favorite since I can ace it, and finally a general MS physical. Dr. Hutton is such a nice man and I will miss him. But I will not miss the anxiety and stress that always surrounds visits with him. :-)
My mom and I talked seminary, went to the Houston museum of fine arts, ate Thai food, and saw a great documentary about back-up singers-- all things that wouldn't have been huge hits with my husband and 3 boys, so it was really great having her there.
Since coming back, my cousin Deborah has been staying here for a couple of weeks until she can move into her apartment down by UT where she's going to grad school. I love all of my cousins, and it has been great getting to know her. She is 10 years younger than me, so I didn't know her as well as her older siblings, but she is awesome.
I reorganized all the books in my schoolroom (a big job!), and have been trying to get things organized for school starting next week. It's complicated because I feel like now that the big boys are going into 7th grade, I need to be working according to a master plan to get them prepared for college. So I'm trying to figure out exactly how to organize our studies for the next couple of years so they can be ready for AP exams and such when they are in high school. I'm not doing Sonlight this year, since I think they need something a bit more rigorous, so it's been a lot more work for me. But I'm excited and I hope it will be a great year.
The boys have been enjoying their last few days of freedom, doing entirely too little practicing and too few chores, but you know, that's OK. My sister Rosalynde introduced me to the musical "Mathilda" while we were at our family reunion, and I got the soundtrack and we've been listening to it constantly. Mosey loves it and has lots of the words memorized, including a big chunk of one of the best monologues I've ever heard onstage. I need to video him for sure. :-) Brigham and Joseph had their last day of Primary on Sunday, since they are turning 12 on Thursday. I get too emotional if I think too much about that, so I won't. But it was fun staying up late with Brigham on Saturday night helping him master those last few articles of faith so he could pass them off before graduating from primary. I have some really good boys.
I'm going to try to get the boys up early(er) tomorrow to start adjusting to our school schedule which is coming up in less than a week now. Which means that I really need to get myself to bed earlier too.
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